Meet The Flatmobile. A flattened version of the Batmobile.
At just 19 inches in height, the Flatmobile was at one time the world’s lowest street legal car (it was surpassed a few years back by the 17.79-inch-high Mirai). The car is based on the Batmobile and includes a flame-spouting jet engine. The Flatmobile was created by UK custom car builder Perry Watkins. Watkins has created a number of other record-breaking custom cars.
That’s what I’m talking about!
Batman fanatic Chris Weir is so besotted with the Batman the Dark Knight that he invested $120,000 (£78,000) in the bat man character – including his very own batcave in his basement.
Batman comic books, Batman action figures and Batman posters are essential in any superhero fans’ collections, but for dad Chris it wasn’t enough. The married 38-year-old owns all of the above – but with an added Bat secret lair of his own.
Amazingly, the man-made Styrofoam bat cave can only be accessed in the same way Bruce Wayne opens the Batcave in the classic 60s Batman series starring Adam West. Chris went to painstaking lengths to install a replica of the William Shakespeare bust seen in Wayne Manor.
Flipping the bust open reveals a concealed red button, which activates a hidden door in a display case for Chris’ favourite Batman collectibles. Inside the cave is a life-size Batman suit used by the Caped Crusader in the latest Chrisopher Nolan films.
A home cinema inside the bat cave features a huge 100-inch TV screen where Chris watches Batman movies, shows and cartoons with wife Joanna, 36, and sons Zachary, 9 and Daniel, 13.
There’s also rows of cinema seats for guests, table football, and even a functioning bar. Chris, from Middletown, Delaware, said: “I wanted the room to look like something Batman himself would operate in, but its all for entertainment purposes.”
The batcave was so important to Chris, that while shopping for a home, the deciding factor was whether or not it had room for the batcave he dreamed of building. Chris’ wife Joanna was given two options, one being their current home.
“She was a little apprehensive at first,” he said. “But then she came around and said as long as I could pay the mortgage, I could do it,” Chris said. Chris’ infatuation with Batman began age three when he played “Batman and Robin” in his yard with his uncle.
Through his childhood his mum bought him figurines of the characters from Batman comic book, including Batman himself, Robin, the Joker, and the Bat-mobile. Around age 14, he bought his first comic book, “The Legends of The Dark Knight, and paid for a monthly subscription using pocket-money.
Holy Taxes Batman! I’m sure a “One-Percenter” like Bruce Wayne can cover the Capital Gains tax.
The Batmobile scored big at Barrett-Jackson on Saturday night, hammered sold at $4.2 million and bringing the standing-room-only crowd in the giant auction tent to a state of cheering, clapping, picture-taking pandemonium.
The authentic, original Batmobile from the 1960s Batman TV show was expected to spark some excitement, but the raucous Scottsdale reception was far bigger than anyone expected.
So was the final bid. The buyer is businessman, car collector and lifelong Batman fan Rick Champagne of nearby Ahwatukee, Ariz., who said he’s wanted to own the Batmobile “ever since I was a kid. I had a toy model of it.”
There’s a new web series being distributed by Machinima called Super Power Beat Down. The first episode of this series is pretty freakin’ awesome! It’s brings together the classic 1960’s Adam West Batmobile and pits it against the Tim Burton version. First they break down all of the specs of each car, revealing their strengths and weaknesses. Then they take the Batmobilbes to the street where they battle it out in a race. This is something I’ve actually wanted to see happen! Which car would you put your money on?
